The background
I woke up yesterday morning just like any other morning to watch my wife rise from the bed but fall immediately to the ground. Half asleep, I paid little attention as she laid on the side of the bed- I half believed she just changed her mind about getting up. But when I asked if she was okay, her response was really scary, she wasn’t being cute, she said she couldn’t see, and what she could see was just moving around. I asked if she had really fallen back in the bed or was she being cute, her next response was she couldn’t walk- this is no way to wake a sleeping bear, I mean, I haven’t even had coffee yet and I am to play a leading role in a Dr. House Episode… but this is not funny- at all.
Is this really happening?
Oh boy, she can’t see, she can’t walk, and here comes the uncontrollable vomiting. This is when things really got crazy. In order for her not to be sick, she couldn’t move, in order for her not to move, meant she must lay awake or asleep in a steady position- constantly. Nausea from the vision problems, or was it totally seperate- ug, who knows- “I’m fine if I just lay here with my eyes closed.” This is not exactly comforting but she asks for a few hours of sleep- “Lets try to reset me she says.”This after an hour of violent vomiting and realizing that crawling is the answer to not walking.
Absolutely unsure of what to do, hours of googling symptoms Vertigo seems to be the only answer, but which kind, some scenarios are horrible, some give hope, but three or four hours later, the symptoms are worse not better. We decide that it isn’t going to reset- to vomit more than 4 or 5 times is one thing, but 20 – 30 rounds is frightening.
It took us an hour just to get from the bedroom to the car, 25 minutes from the car into the ER, but a bed was immediately offered to her. Describing the symptoms her bloodpressure showed huge spikes when moving, but the good news was she didn’t lose pressure when vertical. Two bags of fluid later, no improvement in the nausea, heavy doses of mediacation are given to stabalize and calm her so that her movement wouldn’t cause further vomiting, and on top of that a heavy duty anti-nausea medication. The trip home proved to be just as complicated, no improvement from medication, and violent vomiting the whole way home.
A cat scan revealed that there are no abnormalities, her bloodwork revealed no sign of infection of the middle ear- they just don’t know why a healthy beautiful girl would suddenly be stricken with the most violent and immobilizing case of Vertigo the DR. had ever seen.
We’ll be seeing a specialist in the coming days as we are not sure if this is something she will have to live with for the long term. It is possible it could go as fast as it came, for the moment there will be plenty of sleep and we’ll worry about the management of it tomorrow.
I did ask Lani if we should share these events with you are, afterall, she is loved by thousands and there will likely be no contact with her by computer for at least the coming days. She reluctantly agreed by saying “they’re like family“, and says thank you to all of your thoughts and prayers. I thank all of you as well.
